AgrAbility program keeps disabled farmers farming

Published September 16, 2013 at 8:00 am

Blue Earth County farmer David Glamm was helped by AgrAbility following a farm accident. He is shown standing by his Bobcat Toolcat, a combination ATV/utility vehicle/tractor that has a side entry and can easily be loaded.

Over the past three years, Stores has worked with many farmers in wheelchairs who have upper body strength “who just want to get out there and combine or plant,” he said. “There are so many possibilities out there for farmers who are injured.”

“We have helped farmers with arthritis by extending tractor or combine steps so the first step up is not so big. Hand rails are installed where possible,” said Stores. “We find ways to keep them from having to climb up grain bins, like indicators on the sides. We’ve put staircases on the outside so there is no need for ladders.”

AgrAbility works in about 22 states, Stores said. Minnesota has had the project for more than 20 years.

One Minnesota farmer who has continued farming with help from AgrAbility is David Glamm of Blue Earth County. Glamm was having trouble with his silo unloader on July 4, 2005. The cover had rusted away and not been replaced. When Glamm pushed the machine with his left foot, it grabbed him.

“It had my pants leg wrapped so tightly around my leg that it acted as a tourniquet,” he said. “It’s a good thing I was wearing long pants; I would have bled out within a minute.”

Glamm’s left leg was amputated below the knee, and he spent 10 drugged days in the hospital. He didn’t spend time worrying about the farm because “I had good help,” he said.

One of Glamm’s neighbors had continued farming after losing part of a leg due to diabetes. After his accident, Glamm was referred to another farmer whose leg had been removed above the knee.

“I thought, ‘If he can do it, why can’t I?’” Glamm said. “I never thought I wouldn’t recover. I had so much support from my wife, friends and neighbors.”

Glamm soon started to think that there should be some help for farmers with disabilities. He got a group together to discuss his future in farming.

His lender, accountant, milk coop representative, a neighbor and the regional dairy specialist gathered to answer Glamm’s question — with a lost leg, now what?

“I provided them with my financial records and they agreed that the best option for me was to continue farming,” said Glamm. “Then the dairy specialist told me, ‘We have to contact Minnesota AgrAbility for you.’”

Free of charge, someone came to Glamm’s farm for a tour and asked countless questions and watched closely.

“He wanted me to show what I do every day, to figure out how to make changes that would make things easier for me,” Glamm said.

Glamm was given a binder showing dozens of gadgets that were available to help him.

“Some are expensive, some aren’t,” he said. “We had many conversations and came up with a list of 10 to 12 goodies, things that were changed or added on the farm.”

Once a plan was in place, the 29-page assessment was forwarded to Vocational Rehabilitation, which helps fund people with disabilities.

One less expensive change was the addition of wheels to the metal gates into the feed lot, allowing them to roll rather than having to be picked up and carried. The cost was about $60 per gate.

Automatic hitches were added to vehicles, allowing Glamm to remain in the tractor during a change.

Metal grab bars were installed near difficult steps around the farm.

“AgrAbility is one of the best-kept secrets, but we don’t want that — we want to get the word out,” Glamm said.